terrorism

Action group Kick Out Zwarte Piet filed a complaint for being listed as a terrorist group in the Netherlands' Terrorism Threat Assessment for the year 2017. But according to the national coordinator for counter-terrorism and security NCTV, this is a "misunderstanding" and the group is not seen as a terrorist organization, NU.nl reports.

Like in previous years, the number of crimes registered in the Netherlands decreased last year. In 2018, 6 percent fewer crimes were registered than in 2017, the Public Prosecutor said in its annual report on Thursday. The Dutch authorities also seized over 171 million euros in criminal assets. But while the total number of registered crimes decreased, the declining trend seemed to start reversing in the second half of the year, the Prosecutor said.

Syrian man Abdelaziz A., who was recognized as a jihad combatant in the Amsterdam debate center De Balie in 2017, worked as an informant for Dutch intelligence and security service AIVD between 2016 and 2018, Nieuwsuur reports based on information from sources.

A 47-year-old man from Syria was arrested in Kapelle in Zeeland on Tuesday on suspicion of committing war crimes and terrorist crimes in Syria. The man is suspected of being a commander of a battalion in terrorist organization Jabhat al-Nusra, the police said in a statement.

A total of 112 terrorist attacks were committed in Western countries over the past 15 years. Three quarters of these happened in the last five years, a strong increase related to the rise of terrorist organization Islamic State since 2014, according to an analysis by Dutch intelligence and security service AIVD. The number of attacks decreased again since the fall of Islamic State, NOS reports.

Jawed S., the man suspected of stabbing two American tourists in a terrorist attack at Amsterdam Central Station last year, is only giving limited cooperation to the investigations ongoing against him, was revealed during a proforma hearing in his case on Friday, the Telegraaf reports.

Gokmen T., the suspected gunman in a mass shooting in Utrecht on March 18th, assaulted a prison employee a few weeks before the attack on 24 Oktoberplein, Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security said in a letter to the Tweede Kamer, the Volkskrant reports.

Around 50 people gathered in the center of Amsterdam on Tuesday evening to commemorate the victims killed in attacks in Sri Lanka on Sunday. Speeches were held and flowers were left on Dam Square. The Sri Lankan flag was also projected onto the facade of Amsterdam Central Station, NOS reports.

Another two Dutch people were identified on Monday as victims of attacks in Sri Lanka on Sunday. That brings the total number of Dutch victims killed to three, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima are shocked by seemingly coordinated attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, they said in a released statement. A total of 290 people were killed. Among them were at least 35 foreign tourists, including at least one woman from the Netherlands, a spokesperson for the local police said on Monday morning, AD reports.

At least one Dutch woman was among the hundreds of people killed in a seemingly coordinated set of attacks on Easter Sunday in and around Colombo, Sri Lanka, and several other cities in the South Asian island nation. The 54-year-old woman died in a blast triggered by a suicide bomber at the five-star Cinnamon Grand Hotel in a central, popular part of Colombo.

One victim who was seriously injured in a mass shooting in Utrecht last month, is still in hospital, Utrecht mayor Jan van Zanen said in a letter to the city council. The victim's current condition is unknown, NU.nl reports.

Malek F. was suffering from psychosis when he stabbed three random victims in The Hague last year, and is therefore completely unaccountable, behavioral experts concluded after examining the man. He should be treated in a psychiatric institution, in a department for patients with psychotic disorders. The chance of recurrence is high, the experts said, was revealed in a proforma hearing against the man on Wednesday, NU.nl reports.

The municipality of Utrecht will plant perennials with red and white flowers, the colors of the Utrecht flag, at the memorial site for a mass shooting on 24 Oktoberplein. The thousands of flowers, letters and stuffed animals currently at the site will be removed on Tuesday, NU.nl reports.

Two Dutch lawyers decided to stop representing terrorism suspects. They withdrew from their current case and will also not represent suspected terrorists in the future. The reason for this is that several Dutch and Belgian lawyers were recently denied access to the United States. These were all lawyers who defended terrorism suspects, and the two Dutch lawyers fear that the same will happen to them, RTL Nieuws reports.

On Tuesday the American embassy in The Hague denied to the broadcaster that someone's occupation could be a reason to refuse entry to the U.S.

The suspect in last month's mass shooting on a tram in Utrecht wanted to cause fear and confusion on a wide scale, the Public Prosecutor (OM) said on Wednesday. It forms the basis of their accusation that the suspect, Gökmen T., had a purpose of terrorism when he carried out the shooting, for which he is charged with three specific crimes, a spokesperson for the OM told NL Times.

Dutch intelligence service AIVD warns of radical influences in education in its annual report for 2018. According to the service, "radical Islamic boosters" play an increasingly emphatic role in the education offer for young Muslims in the Netherlands. In the long term, this could undermine the democratic legal order, the AIVD said, NOS reports.

The police arrested a 23-year-old man in Breda on suspicion of involvement in terrorism. According to information from intelligence service AIVD, he joined Islamic terrorist movement al-Shabaab in Somalia in 2017 and was also trained by the Al-Qaeda affiliated group, the Public Prosecutor said.

It is believed that the man returned to the Netherlands late last year, according to the Prosecutor. The authorities recently determined that he was staying in Breda and arrested him.

A 74-year-old man has died from injuries sustained at a mass shooting in Utrecht earlier this month. The unnamed victim, from De Meern in Utrecht province, died on Thursday, according to the Public Prosecutor's office (OM).

So far the police received 850 tips regarding a mass shooting in Utrecht last week Monday, a police spokesperson said on Opsporing Verzocht on Tuesday. Due to the high number of tips, the police have not yet been able to make personal contact with every caller, but they will, the spokesperson said.

A 21-year-old woman from Nieuwegein who was injured in a mass shooting in Utrecht last week, was discharged from the hospital on Monday. She will continue her recovery at home, her lawyer said on Tuesday, NU.nl reports.

"She thanks everyone for the support she's receiving, in whatever form", the lawyer said. He called on the press to leave the young woman alone and respect her privacy.

The victims of a mass shooting in Utrecht on Monday were commemorated with a silent march in the city on Friday. The 16 thousand attendees included Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security, Mayor of Amsterdam Femke Halsema, Den Haag mayor Pauline Krikken, and Rotterdam's Deputy Mayor Bert Wijbenga.